Week of May 2 eNews -- Emmanuel Lutheran Church

Emmanuel Lutheran Church eNews

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Week of May 2, 2021

In this week's eNews...

May 1: Worship @ 5pm
May 2: Worship @ 8:30am and 10am
May 2: Fly a Kite @ 12noon
May 4 @ 10am: Torah Tuesdays w/Donna Batchelor
May 6: @ 10am: Thursdays Together
May 6 @ 7pm: National Day of Prayer
May 7: @ 9:30am: Centering Prayer w/Birdie Clark
May 7 @ 12noon: CWU May Friendship Day
Signup is now open for Altar Flowers and Eternal Candle dedication for April-July of 2021 through the links below or contact the church office.

Please note, beginning this Sunday, May 2nd, Emmanuel will no longer offer the Sunday 11am service. This follows our normal summer schedule. If you are unable to make a reservation for the service you wish to attend, please contact the office during business hours -

M-Th, 8:30am-12noon.

Registration Information

You may also register for this coming weekend as well as next weekend through our website www.emmanuel-elca.org.
When you register for worship and find your preferred service is full, you might want to check the 11am worship for room!!
If you need to edit or cancel your registration, use the links provided in the email confirmation you received when registering.

Remember these guidelines when coming to worship:

6 feet social distancing requirements - do not crowd pews.
Remember to wear a mask with nose and mouth covered and use the hand sanitizer available in the narthex or pews.
Limited seating is available in the balcony. Please wait for an usher to escort you. The seats in the back of the sanctuary should only be used when the pews are "full".
Please do not stop and visit in the narthex or inside the sanctuary.
Wait for the ushers to dismiss your row. They start at the back of the sanctuary. For everyone’s safety and proper distancing, follow the ushers instructions.

Reminder: Please wear your Name Badges when attending worship so we know who you are while wearing your face masks!!! Also, please silence your cell phone out of consideration for all worshippers.

One of our "Flock" needs a ride to worship

We are looking for a ride to worship, once or twice a month on Saturday or Sunday, for one of our members who lives at Jacaranda Trace, which does not provide transportation on the weekend. If you are willing to help and would like more information, call Jan Quinn at 941.412.9575.

We need pictures please...

If you have a group or any activity at Emmanuel, please take some pictures and send them to the office at info@emmanuel-elca.org. We would like to put current activities on our website for others to see and explore!

“A Little Hope will go a Long Way!”

Hope is a feeling of expectation and desire for something to happen. Our faith is centered on the hope that we have in Christ and the resurrection. In the book of Hebrews it states, “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for and the convictions of things not seen.” Recently one of our dear members said, “Give us just a little hope” and expressed the importance of opening-up the church more as we move towards the future. All of us desire for the church to be more open, and the good news is that it's gradually happening. At the heart of our faith is the hope that is eternal and that is always with us even when we cannot see. In the book of Romans Paul wrote, “Endurance produces character and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us.”

On Easter Sunday we sang out loud for the first time in a long time, and we had one of those little moments of optimism and hope. We will continue to open-up more opportunities for fellowship, increase capacity, and ultimately rekindle our relationships we have so deeply missed.

The hope we had for having a vaccination and life without lockdown has happened as many of our members are now vaccinated. Emmanuel’s Executive Committee has been diligent at keeping updated with the CDC protocols in keeping our congregation safe and will continue to do so. We always live in the everlasting hope of the resurrection that keeps us open to the Good News. Thank you for your faithfulness and for clinging to hope as we continually learn to adapt. In God’s grace and love!

Pastor Rob

We are in the process of coming up with a theme for this year’s Stewardship campaign. We are also trying to decide how we will do the electronic version of the pledge cards and time and talents sheets this year.

Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, and not reluctantly or under

compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 2Corrinthians 9:7

Outreach ministries continue during the pandemic! Coffee Talk distributes lunches to the homeless each Tuesday and Thursday – now outside the Train Depot rather than inside. Family Promise host weeks are on hold but families in transition are provided meals and groceries by our volunteers and through financial support of our congregation at the Family Promise Day Center. Haiti Global Mission – it is a dangerous time there but we are able to provide prayers and financial assistance for Pastor Livenson Lauvanus, his family, and his churches in Haiti. Recently a container of goods for C-19 relief was generously donated by one of our dedicated volunteer families to this Haiti mission – praise be to God.

More Outreach ministries will be activated as we move into a post-pandemic church world soon - collections for Blessing Bags in October, the Food Pantry at Thanksgiving, and Christmas gifts in December. In September we will celebrate ‘God’s Work Our Hands’ with a new hymn and other activities. We have also added a new Global Mission focus, The Center for Christian Education in Slovakia, as a new ministry we are supporting.

As we return soon to normal post-pandemic ministry operations your Outreach ministry teams will be asking you for more volunteer help to support currently suspended activities – Friendship dinners and lunches, hosting Family Promise weeks again on campus, and adding new ministries that will meet our Outreach objective of “serving those less fortunate in our community and beyond”.

Want to help out at Emmanuel but only have a few hours a couple times a month? We have the job for you. We need someone (or a couple) to take over the delivery of food collected at Emmanuel to the South County Food Pantry. This would need to be done a couple times a month. Please contact the office if you are willing to help! Thanks so much!

The South County Food Pantry cart will be in the Narthex this month to accept donations. Please only bring items when you come to worship. Donations during the week may be dropped off at the Pantry located at 121 Warfield Ave, Venice, 9am to 12noon weekdays.

Barb's Medical Minute

At some point, we are all caregivers. It may be long or short term. Avoid “caregiver stress” by:

getting and accepting help
practice self-care with me-time activities.
finally, don’t “should have” all over yourself. You make the best decisions you can with the information available at the time, so don’t second-guess yourself.

Remember you’re a human being doing your best to do a superhuman job!

Upcoming Events and Opportunities:

Explore Centering Prayer to enrich your prayer life. Birdie Clark leads this group for those new to Centering Prayer as well as those who have perhaps practiced before on Fridays at 9:30am. All are welcome!

Please email or phone Birdie if you are interested or have questions at birdieclark48@aol.com or 941.488.4360.

Join via Zoom on Fridays at 9:30am

This event will be held outside in the pavilion behind the church. Canned goods collected will be given to the Center of Hope's Food Pantry in Venice.

See the Torah Tuesday Video Showcase - Click Here

Join via Zoom this Thursday @ 10am

Need a Hug...Give a Hug

Do you or someone need an extra "hug"? There are several prayer shawl's available in the Narthex. Pick one or several up and feel or give the comfort of God's Love. Special thanks to Jadynne Berg for keeping this ministry alive.

In Our Prayers...

Walter Anderson (Mike's father), Nancy Bollers, Jack Eagon (in St. Louis hospital), Susie Esposito, Sharon Graves, Don Stratton, and Tom Zwetschke.

Friends and family of Carol Boyd as they mourn the death of her son, Doug.

May thru July Now Available!

July sign-ups are now available. Click the links below to reserve your date to remember or honor a loved one or a special event by sponsoring the Altar Flowers or Eternal Candle for April-June. Please submit your dedication with payment no later than 2 weeks prior to your reserved date. If you have any questions or are unable to sign-up online, contact the office.

Altar Flowers May-July

Eternal Candle May-July

Readings for This Week

May 2

Fifth Sunday of Easter

Acts 8:26-40

Psalm 22:25-31

I John 4:7-21

John 15:1-8

May 9

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Acts 10:44-48

Psalm 98

I John 5:1-6

John 15:9-17

For your information...

Want to know more about some of the items in eNews? When viewing the eNews online or on your mobile device and you see the pointing finger when running your mouse over a graphic or text, you will be able to link to more information such as a flyer, website, etc. Try it with the top picture of the church!!

Previous copies of the eNews may be viewed by clicking here.

Devotional/worship: Sunday Worship is posted after 8:30am to the website and the 10am service is live-streamed on FaceBook. Thursdays Together with Pastor Hall is accessible through the Zoom link above. All previous worship services are also available through our website by clicking on the Vimeo logo in the upper left corner of the posted video on the website.

Check out Emmanuel's website on the Events page to view upcoming events, Sunday's announcement PowerPoint, and pictures of recent activities as available.